“We will prosecute them for the disgraceful thugs and scum that they are,” District Attorney Seth Williams said.

They were taken into custody at the 25th District headquarters and charged with robbery, conspiracy, kidnapping and other offenses. Alivera is a 10-year veteran of the force; Luciano is a three-year veteran. Both have been suspended and are being fired.

“These were officers that were in full uniform, on-duty at the time they did it. There is nothing worse than that,” Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said.

Investigators say the pair stole 20 pounds of marijuana, with a street value of $24,000, and about $3,000 in cash from the undercover state agent who was taking part in the sting. The cash was recovered, but the drugs were not. The investigation is ongoing.

Both officers were arraigned on Tuesday afternoon and bail was set at $1 million each.

The arrests follow the recent formation of a new unit in Philadelphia Police Department’s Internal Affairs Unit. The unit was formed following other recent drug corruption arrests in the department, including one in which two officers were charged with stealing drugs from dealers in order to resell them back to another dealer.

At a Tuesday morning press conference following the arrests, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said things may appear to get worse before they get better as he tries to clean house in the 6,600-member department. At least five Philadelphia officers have been accused or convicted in the past year of trying to rob drug dealers (see related story).

A sixth officer is charged with stealing $825 from a tavern where a colleague was slain (see related story).

Sad as it is, this was not the first police corruption issue that we all became aware of and it’s not likely to be the last. It occurs in every department across the Nation. As a member of the Department for 30 years I’ve seen this before and it is always embarrassing.
The feeling will pass but not the damage. It’s hard to convince individuals like the posters “Chris” or “john” that police can be trusted and the actions of a few are not a representation of the majority. The views, that the majority act like those accused, are simply inaccurate and these comments are a gross injustice to those who serve with the core beliefs sewn into the patch on our right arm.
Those of us who believe in the core beliefs of Honor, Integrity and Service find the actions of these individuals to be morally and professionally repugnant. While we are obligated, as a matter of our profession, to hold to the judicial principle of innocent until proven guilty, we will view this much the same as the majority of the public and it will be a trying test of our ability to professionally objective. For us who must work in public displaying the uniforms of our professions, it will be an open festering sore until the matter is adjudicated.
In the end there will always be individuals who enter this profession with flawed ethical principles. It is simply impossible to always detect these individuals before they enter the police profession. However, the Philadelphia Police Department will always be vigilant in detecting them and in the end they will be found out and removed. Every member of the police profession realizes, at least on an intuitive level, that they are the only daily representation of government other than our flag. We all wear a uniform and display a firearm openly in public; we all hope that the members of the public find our presence reassuring. We take pride in what we represent and the actions of these and the other officers are in no way a reflection on the majority that I work with.

For every rat you see there’s 50 that you don’t. For every bad apple we happen to hear about, how many more are out there getting away with murder? What gets me is that these two had NO FEAR of getting caught, they knew their fellow cops would never believe the claims of the “dealer”. Cops all over the county are out of control. Just google police misconduct statistics. Too many of them are nothing but criminals with badges.

Yeah, Ken, but unfortunately a lot of the people they testified against WERE guilty and will now roam free. That is the real travesty here because they will commit more crimes when they get out.

B, most of us don’t know how other PO’s react to corruption. The Thin Blue Line seems very powerful and no one wants to be a snitch. To the general public, the psychology of police and how they would react to knowing about corruption is shrouded in mystery. Maybe you should all find a way to let us know that you all WOULD turn someone in — use this embarrassment as a platform to remove the mystery for the public.

Tell that to the people who were convicted based on their testimony in the past…..I wonder how many were actually innocent but wouldn’t pay the piper? I agree not all cops are bad, but Philly has a serious problem that is only just now becoming apparent to the public.

The good news is that the number of honest and officers out number the men and women who wear a uniform and consider think wearing a badge is a job instead of a lifestyle. I have sworn to protect and serve my city and I do so with dignity and honor. These guys were NEVER real cops!!!

B: You have my sympathy, but the fact is a lot of cops know these crimes are going on within the department and they don‘t report it. Same with philly’s city council. This has been true since as far back as I remember, and that’s back in the 40’s

@ZZBAR, first, how dare you even think I fell remorse for those impostors? I put my life on the line everyday to protect people who don’t give a damn about us because that is what I swore to do. Its embarrassing that there are officers out there who are tarnishing the badge. I hope that if they are found guilty that the judge throws the book at them and the rest of the officers disgracing the department!

B. I picked on you because of your comment. You know there were/are cops out there that know/knew whats going on and did not rat on these, what you call officers of the PPD. Maybe you are a good officer, but with all the corruption going on with the (PPD), people that are to have a higher standard and protect. What are we to think? This goes on way to much.

This is truly sad for philly. I know people who won’t even walk in philly because of crime. Now we have impostor cops who steal from the drug dealers.. Hats off to THE PPD for weading them out.. Somebody watching the guards.

So they will cheat casinos, drunkenly shoot unarmed neighbors, beat up women, steal from your bar, sell drugs, rob dealers, molest kids am I missing anything? This is just the tip of the iceberg. Imagine the things they get away with, pretty scary! Who would you rather leave your kids with a catholic priest or a philadelphia police officer? I would never trust a philly cop. I wouldn’t even call the police if I was a victim of a crime. Chances are they had something to do with it. Sad!

@ Doho: Well, Luciano just f%$#@&ed it up for his wife and kids. Whatever financial cushion he had with the PPD went right out the window and now his wife and kids won’t get anything. I guess cops that go bad only think it all stops with them, but it doesn’t They don’t stop to think that it affects their family. It’s such a shame. I hope they will be ok in spite of this.

They aren’t all bad. Police Officers are human, so there’s bound to be some bad apples, because not all are good. Especially with power, there will always be corruption somewhere — that goes for ALL power. There are MD’s and nurses that kill patients on purpose too, but we don’t assume just because a few exist that they’re all that way.

Maybe what the top brass is doing will deter others from thinking they’re above the law and catch the ones that think so now. Thumbs up to the PPD for trying to weed them out.